BREAKING NEWS EDITORIALAgain, let voters decide on limits
We attended almost all of the full two days — plus most of one night — of hearings last week on the critical issue of whether term limits in New York City should be extended. What we saw and heard basically reinforced our already-held view — that without a voter referendum, term limits must not be extended.

EditorialMendez and Gerson must now hold the lineThree weeks ago, in this space, we stated our position on term limits. Since that time, there have been major developments on the issue at City Hall, yet our position has remained resolute, and will continue to remain so: Yes, we think three terms  or 12 years in office  are better than two for city officials, because it allows them to learn the ropes and bring their full expertise to bear; and because being limited to only two terms causes politicians constantly to scramble just to hold a job, instead of focusing on the real issues that need their attention.

Letters to the EditorNotebookIn Nyons, they believe Obama has the savoir faireBy Patricia Fieldsteel
NYONS, France  The Villagers associate editor recently asked if I could write about the French view of the U.S. presidential election. Well, France is a big country. Yes, its smaller than Texas, but still. Provence is also big, ditto Nyons, a major city in these parts, population 6,900. So we settled on the Old Town of Nyons, a few hundred.

Obituary

Anne Eco, married the boy downstairs, dies at 100By Albert Amateau
Anne Eco, born and raised in the Village, where she helped run a grocery store with her late husband until 1960, died Wed., Oct. 8, in St. Vincents Hospital six weeks after her 100th birthday.

Playground parents seesaw between anger, impatienceBy HRina DeTroy
Where the Tompkins Square Park childrens playground once stood is now a construction site surrounded by chain-link fencing. A $1.5 million project by the Parks Department that began in August will revamp the playground. But some East Village residents are dismayed.

NewsMendez, Silver say added floors must be severedBy Albert Amateau
Tenants of two East Village tenements and elected officials asked the Board of Standards and Appeals last week to order the landlord to remove sixth floors that were recently added to both buildings, and also a penthouse that was added to one of the buildings.

Agency reps all prescribe OToole site as best optionBy Albert Amateau
The Landmarks Preservation Com-mission last week heard city and state officials testify in favor of St. Vincents Hospitals hardship application for permission to demolish the quirky OToole Building and replace it with a 299-foot-tall new hospital tower in the Greenwich Village Historic District.

VISTA volunteer who helped kids hopes for rendezvousCall him crazy or a dreamer, but when Michael Gaines arrives in New York on the 23rd of this month on a vacation, hes gambling on the chance he can reunite with some of the kids he came to know 40 years ago. Only now, of course, they would be middle-aged adults.

A Villager special sectionTransitions and TraditionsThe Lower East SidePastrami to presidents, Katzs is still a presenceBy Casey Samulski
Katzs Delicatessen has been on the Lower East Side for more than 120 years. Owner Alan Dells father was fond of the place, and returned to it frequently, always asking if it was up for sale. In 1987 it was and the Dells took over the famed eatery at 205 E. Houston St. at the corner of Ludlow St.

Allen St. Champs-Élysées starting to take shapeBy Matt Townsend
The city calls the 25-foot-wide slabs of concrete that divide the north- and southbound lanes of Allen St. on the Lower East Side a pedestrian mall. But these wouldnt remind anyone of the grassy fields between the U.S. Capitol and Washington Monument or the landscaped islands in the middle of Park Ave.

At Economy Candy, leaving them smiling since 1937By Casey Samulski
Economy Candy is a store as honest as its name, devoted to selling good candy at a good price. When it comes to candy, as owner Jerry Cohen says, Weve seen everything and done everything.

Lucien, the man, the restaurant and the Pink PonyBy Casey Samulski
On First Ave., just north of E. Houston St., Lucien lies tucked into the east side of the block. Small and cheerful with a fair selection of wine, the restaurant, according to owner Lucien Bahaj, is the sort of place anyone can do. Bahaj has lived in New York City for 35 years, moving here from the south of France when he was 28.

Connecting to outsidersBy David Todd
Recently, venerable folksinger Pete Seeger performed Take It From Dr. King on David Lettermans show, surrounded by a group of youthful backups. The audience was at first respectful, perhaps charmed by Seegers patient, sing-songy manner.

Listening inBy Stacey Coburn
Honking car horns, ringing sirens and pounding drills at construction sites will be some of the sounds celebrated and explored at this years Ear to the Earth Festival. The festival, which is in its third year, will focus on urban sounds, with a concentration on New York City.

Where the deer and the dispossessed playBy Debra Jenks
Theres something strange going on at the Super 8 Motel. With the exception of an occasional truck passing on a distant highway, Doug Aitkens video installation, Migration, is void of human presence. The guests have all grown fur and feathers.

Dark reignsBy Scott Harrah
Onstage chemistry between two actors doesnt get any better than that of Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe and veteran British thespian Richard Griffiths in Thea Sharrocks superb revival of Equus. Although this dark, disturbing psychodrama, originally produced in 1973, is at times almost like a period piece  revisiting an era when exorcising ones inner demons was fashionable  its potent message about the parallels between madness and religious fundamentalism is still quite topical today.